


it's like gambling

by spacebubble



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Coda, Drunken Confessions, Episode: s4e07 Starship Down, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9430349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebubble/pseuds/spacebubble
Summary: A brief coda after the episode where Quark helps defuse a torpedo. It's all very consensual, but Quark takes a little while to get back up to speed the morning after. The Karemma minister is much nicer than he thought he'd be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "I tried to cheat you, and I lost, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up the game. Come on, Hanok. What do you say? You want to keep playing?" - Quark, 4x07: Starship Down
> 
> one-shot pwp writing exercise in between a couple other things that writer's block has held hostage. quark and that dude had chemistry tbh

Quark wakes up and feels another body in the bed, weighing down the mattress next to him, a long body that presses against his side, sharp joints digging into his flesh.

He turns to look at the sleeping face of Hanok, the Karemma trade minister, serene and solemn in his bed, a slight smile on his lips.

His shirt is off. So is Quark’s.

Tentatively, Quark lifts up his blanket. He sets it back down.

Hanok’s leg is on top of his, and the leg is naked, and so is he.

He is sore and sticky and his memories come back to him in an embarrassing flood.

His entire face burns with awareness of how much he has explored the body next to his and how much he was explored in turn.

He swallows hard at the recollection and tastes the remnants of liquor in his mouth, the drink that Hanok had bought for him with his dabo winnings, the faint head-clearing sting, crisp and biting, that rushed down his throat and made him follow the Karemma down the hall, made him linger outside the corridor when Hanok asked if they could talk longer.

He remembers showing Hanok his quarters and inviting him inside. He remembers the thrill of having a strange man in his quarters for friendly reasons.

The discussion of inter-quadrant relations, the discussion of gambling. His own gamble, an impulsive grab of the hand. Hanok pulling him forward by the hand and kissing him hard and slow, intoxicatingly slow, and their stumble to his bed. Fumbling under the covers, how he refused to strip without the blanket shielding him from the other man’s view, and Hanok telling him that was fine, he wouldn’t look down. Hanok looking into his eyes and keeping his word, Hanok nudging his legs open, nudging him open, not looking anywhere but his eyes, not looking, only feeling. Long fingers and a long body, weighing down upon him. Hanok relishing his noises and swallowing them whole. His hands in Hanok’s hair, soft and fine, his thumbs running along the bones of Hanok’s face.

“You’re a tight little thing, aren’t you,” the Karemma had whispered into his ear.

A quiet sound interrupts his thoughts.

Quark jolts upright when he feels Hanok move against him.

He looks back at the Karemma and watches him wake up.

“Mmmm.” Hanok gazes at him through half-lidded eyes, slight smile still on his face. “Quark.”

Quark lets the Karemma pull him close. “Morning, Hanok.”

“A good morning, indeed.” Hanok kept looking at him.

“Yeah.” Quark’s entire body is blushing, he just knows it.

He feels a hand on his bare hip. It’s warm and rough and promising.

“Do you feel better?” Hanok asks him.

“About what?”

“The Changeling.”

Quark stares at him. “What?”

“That’s what this was all about, wasn’t it?” Hanok’s thumb gently strokes at the edge of Quark’s hipbone. “You needed a release.”

“I…” Quark blinks. “When did I ever talk with you about Odo?”

Hanok laughs humorlessly. “You said his name, Quark. When you finished.”

His face falls. He lightly replies, “No, I didn’t.”

“Quark.” The Karemma’s voice is low and lulling. It reminds him too much of Odo. “I was more than happy to help, but you should know the Karemma don’t agree with cheating in general, especially if you’re cheating yourself.”

Quark frowns. “But… I wasn’t. I’m not.”

The hand on his hip trails upwards, fingertips dancing lightly along his arm, his neck, until it brushes against Quark’s cheek.

He’s kinder than Quark wanted him to be. He doesn’t want the Karemma’s kindness.

He doesn’t know what he wants, but it isn’t this gentle pity, this gentle hand.

“Do you remember telling me?” Hanok drifts closer, his entire body pressing against Quark’s, solid and warm. “We talked afterwards. You told me all about him, but you haven’t told him yourself. You speak with him so often and there’s still so much you haven’t said.”

He vaguely recalls blubbering some confession, his defenses taken apart and dismantled. Lying in wetness, lying under the covers, Hanok looking at him with a sleepy concern. How he kept chasing after women who wouldn’t remind him of Odo, how he kept longing for wilder moments with wilder men. Sometimes he just wanted to forget, for a little while. Sometimes he just wanted not to feel alone.

“I remember,” Quark admits quietly. He feels the stickiness cling to his skin. “Surprised you stayed, after all that.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Hanok looks confused. “You were upset. It wouldn’t have been right to leave you alone that way.”

Quark laughs. “Well. Okay. Guess I have a lot more to learn about the Karemma.”

“I suppose you do,” Hanok says. “You’re welcome to visit me in the Gamma Quadrant sometime. If you need any more help.”

“That’s an enticing offer.” Quark wishes he could take it. Maybe he would, sometimes. “I’ll let you know.”

They look at each other for a moment, and Quark sees a possible alternate future flash briefly in front of his eyes. But only briefly.

“Anyway, we should both get cleaned up,” Quark says. “You can use the sonic shower first. Being my guest and all.”

Hanok chuckles. “You’re a lovely host. And Quark?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t give up the game.”

Quark gazes at him. “Thanks, Hanok.”

He lets the Karemma give him a kiss. It’s not as gentle as it could be. Quark whimpers softly into it for a moment before he breaks away.

“Now hurry up and get in the shower,” Quark says with a sheepish grin. “I’m not going to have the Captain ask me why a certain minister’s late for his transport today.”

“Very well,” Hanok replies. He lets his hand linger on Quark’s cheek before leaving.

Quark watches him walk to the shower, then lies back on the bed and closes his eyes. He tries not to think about Odo.

He had a long day ahead of him.

**Author's Note:**

> p.s.! the title's from one of quark's lines in the ep: "If there's no risk, there's no thrill. Your way is just barter. If you want to win big, you've got to be willing to play the odds. It's like gambling." :3


End file.
